day out with

The deal was that when he turned three, he could go see Thomas the Train. He talked about it all the time - inviting busboys and preachers to go with him, asking every week or so if today was the day.

Yesterday was the day.

He was so excited. He talked non-stop from the moment his climbed out of his bed until his little feet stepped onto the train three and a half hours later. Some of the highlights from the backseat were, "Thomas will be SO EXCITED to meet me!" (Yes he will honey). And, my favorite - when he first spotted the famous blue engine with owl eyes and a pasted smile, Asher announced, "He's real! Thomas is really real!" As if to say, I know all about that guy in the red suit at the mall, but mama, you can't deny that Thomas is REALLY a TRAIN.

Priceless.

I would love to say we have great pictures to capture his enthusiasm, but that would be a lie. Most of the pictures that capture my children's enthusiasm capture the backs of their little curly heads, because they are too busy to be bothered with pictures. For those who don't know, Day Out With Thomas totally gets preschoolers. The other exhibits included a sand box, train tables, a five-hole round of putt-putt (which both children loved, though Silas threw a fit every single time his turn was over. Every. Time.), a bouncy house, and a petting zoo. (And one thing that we never had as kids - hand santizing stations. I'm fairly certain that on the days we went to amusement parks, we went fifteen hours or so without ever washing our hands. Thank you helicopter parents and H1N1 for cleaning things up).





And this one may be my favorite. Anyone who has ever gone on a big outing with tiny children knows that this is usually how the day ends:



When we'd squeezed all the fun out of Thomas, we went to lunch. After lunch - and after a 30 minute catnap during interstate construction - we figured Silas had already missed his window for taking a nap, so why rush back home? Why not just enjoy our day in a bigger city?

So we did.

First we went to a park, and Silas discovered how much more fun it is if Dad is pushing him on the swings, instead of Mom.



Then we went to Georgia and Sawyer's house. Did you know they have a stream in their backyard? They really have the most beautiful creekside backyard you can imagine, in the middle of a neighborhood in the middle of town. Beautiful.

Little and big kids both had a blast.







Afterwards, the kids all rode on the "tractor" Georgia's Mom and Dad used to lay sod over the weekend. Like so.



It's safe to say that after our Day Out with Thomas, we had a Day Out with Georgia and Sawyer, too.

This morning I asked, "Asher, what was your favorite part of your day yesterday?" His answer came quickly. "I liked playing in the stream!" He said.

"Silas, what did you like?" "TRACTOR!" Silas said enthusiastically.

Indeed.